With the Bruins playing their first game in the month of March, it only made sense that their matchup against the Wildcats on Sunday would have a tournament feel.
The back-and-forth contest in the desert did not disappoint. The Bruins gritted out the win, despite showing some glaring problems in a game that had big ramifications for everyone.
For UCLA, staying in line for a potential No. 1 seed was at stake, while Arizona needed a win just to help improve their chances of earning a bid.
Although the Bruins blew out the Wildcats at Pauley last month, there’s nothing more dangerous than a talented team with their backs against the wall. And that’s exactly what Arizona was on Sunday.
No Pac-10 team has ever made it to the Big Dance without a winning record in conference and now, with two games remaining, Arizona sits at 7-9. They knew a marquee win over the No. 4-ranked team in the country would probably get them in, setting the Bruins up to play the role of spoiler.
And spoil they did, despite providing plenty of opportunity for Arizona to even the season series with an inconsistent offensive attack and sloppy play at seemingly pivotal moments.
In what has become common for the Bruins against legitimate opponents, they lost their offense for a solid chunk of the game. The Wildcats threw some junk defenses at them, but it was nothing the Bruins hadn’t seen before.
No matter what the cause, UCLA struggled to get the ball inside and couldn’t capitalize on Chase Budinger’s inability to play defense. The ‘Cats were able to quickly overcome a double-digit deficit to ignite the McKale Center. In the time it took to make a sandwich, the Bruins’ offense went from high-powered and quick-striking to laborious and pained.
It was almost like the Bruins forgot what their bread and butter has been this whole year. His name’s Kevin Love.
This game showed again that (despite how one-dimensional this sounds) the big man should be getting touches in every half-court set the Bruins run. Josh Shipp’s inconsistent play from downtown highlights the fact that UCLA cannot depend on solid 3-point shooting night in and night out. Although they posted a breakout performance on Thursday in terms of hitting 3-pointers, the closest thing to sure points is 6 feet 10 inches and 260 pounds.
On Sunday, Love faced double teams every time he caught a pass down low, often drawing a third weak-side defender to impede his path.
It didn’t matter.
The Beast of the Boards bulled, spun and stiff-armed his way to the hoop, making ‘Zona’s interior defense look laughable. His final stats showed 24 points and 15 rebounds as he also forced the Wildcats’ big men into foul trouble.
I’m not saying Love should be taking shots every time the Bruins have the ball ““ he’s not OJ Mayo ““ but when he’s got the rock, something good happens. Whether someone else springs open or whether he gets to the line, the more times Love gets the ball, the better.
With two regular-season games left, the Bruins have a chance to lock up a one seed and dictate the path they will take to the Final Four.
All they got to do is feed the big man.
E-mail Feder at jfeder@media.ucla.edu if Kevin O’Neill’s head could glow in the dark.